Recipe

• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• Boiling water

One of the things I hate the most about apartments are clogged drains. They always happen, no matter what you do. I also have no idea how so much two foot long hair gets down in the drains, mine certainly isn't that long.

There are many products, each more caustic than the other, that you can use to clean out these drains, and they can do wonders if your drains are first world high quality drains. Of course, not all drains in first world countries are high quality or first world level. I still remember pouring a bottle of Draino down a drain in a house in California, United States and having the pipes in the wall dissolve and leak. Since I started travelling the world, I have seen drains in even worse shape.

There is also a danger of the drain cleaner not working and leaving a sink or shower full of hazardous caustic chemicals. Most plumbers I've met will refuse to work on a drain if you've used drain cleaner.

There is a method to clean drains that is safer on pipes and doesn't have the dangers of caustic chemicals. I originally found it on some of those crunchy eco-hippy sites, but it does usually work (Bob Vila convinced me to try it). It's also good as a monthly maintenance clean.

• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• Boiling water

1. Pull out as much of the clog as you can.
2. Pour a generous amount of baking soda in the drain.
3. Pour a generous amount of white vinegar in the drain.
4. Block the drain with a rag so the bubbles don't get out.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until there is no baking soda left in the drain.
6. Pour a large pot of boiling water down the drain.

I have never been good at remembering to clean the shower every day let alone every week. Even when I had a shower that wasn't tile and could be squeegeed, it just never happened. I started using Tilex more or less when I still lived stateside; just spray the shower down and forget it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Tilex outside of the States. I have, however, found some recipes to make your own. Based on these recipes, I made my own recipe that can be adjusted for what you can find locally and how much things cost.

• Spray bottle
  
• 700ml (3c) water
• 118ml (1/2c) 3% hydrogen peroxide (oxygenating cleanser)
• 118ml (1/2c) alcohol or white vinegar (general purpose cleaner and disinfectant)
• 10ml (2t) dishwashing soap (degreaser and cleaner)
• 10ml (2t) dishwasher rinse such as JetDri (sheeting action helps water run off walls instead of sticking)
• 10ml (2t) dishwashing softener/anti-calcaire (to remove and prevent hard water deposits)

Put everything in the spray bottle and shake lightly.
Spray shower walls and doors after taking a shower and ignore.
Works best after a thorough cleaning but will slowly remove buildup if used regularly. Also makes periodic cleanings easier.

I included the reasons for each ingredient so informed decisions can be made. Leave out what you don't need (only need an anti-calcaire if you have hard water) and make substitutions based on what's available and what's affordable (hydrogen peroxide is ridiculously expensive where I live and alcohol is hard to find).

If you add something I don't list because of the characteristics of your water, let me know and I will add it to the recipe.

Like most of my friends, I have a lot of books. The last time I moved in the states, I had to figure out what to do with several bookcases of them. I've found that it's very difficult to carry these books around with me everywhere I travel. I've since changed over to ebooks because I can fit hundreds of books on my computer or phone. They're not as enjoyable as holding the physical books, but they also take up a lot less space in my suitcase.

Even ebooks aren't a perfect solution. Sometimes I need to use a book on a different device or I need a hard copy of something because I'm travelling somewhere that doesn't have internet or electricity. After much research, I've found a solution.

I've started using a program called Calibri to manage all of my ebooks. Calibri is available for Linux, Mac, PC, and even USB drives. One of my favorite features is that it lets you convert ebooks between different formats including iBooks, Kindle, and PDF. This has let me read my books on the computer and various phones including Nokia, Android, and iPhone.

Unfortunately, digital rights management and anti-copying measures can make it difficult to read your books the way you want or where you want. Device or software manufacturers can also delete books you own from your collection after you've paid for them if the books have DRM. If your book has DRM, if the company who makes the reader software stops making it, you can no longer read your books. Maybe you need to print off a couple pages for a presentation. Have you ever been given a book by someone before they died or inherited a book after someone died? Can't do that if there's DRM. Thankfully, Apprentice Alf has found a way to remove the DRM so you can enjoy your books the way they were meant to be: at your leasure.

**Please note that this process only removes DRM when a book is imported into Calibri; it won't work on books already imported

Here's the step by step:

1. Download Calibri
2. Install Calibri
3. Download the latest version of tools
4. Unzip tools to a folder. A safe place to keep it is your "My Documents" folder
5. Open Calibri
6. Click on "Preferences" in the upper right corner
7. Under "Advanced", click on "Plug-ins"
8. Click on "Load plug-in from file" in the lower right corner
9. In the new window, go to the tools folder
10. Go to the "Calibri_Plugins" folder
11. Select the first file (eReaderPDB2PML)
12. Click "Open"
13. Click "Yes"
14. Click "OK"
15. Repeat steps 8-14 for the other files
16. Click "Apply" in the upper left corner
    
17. Click "Close" in the lower right corner
18. Congratulations, you're done!

You should have done steps 8-14 for each of these files:

• eReaderPDB2PML 
  
• ignobleepub 
  
• ineptepub 
  
• ineptpdf 
  
• K4MobileDeDRM 
  

To remove the DRM from an ebook, import it into Calibri:

1. Open Calibri
2. Click on "Add Books" in the upper left corner
3. Choose your book
4. Click "Open"

To change the format of an ebook:

1. Open Calibri
2. Find the book
3. Right-click the book
4. Choose "Convert books"
5. Choose "Convert individually"
6. In the upper right corner it says Output format and has an option next to it
7. Choose the format you want: EPUB for iBooks, MOBI for Kindle, PDF for pdf, etc
8. Click "OK"

To copy an ebook to a folder:

1. Open Calibri
2. Find the book
3. Click "Save to disc"
4. Choose where you want to save the book
5. Click "OK"

Resources:
Calibri eBook Management
Apprentice Alf's Blog
Apprentice Alf's tools